An economic cooperation document between Afghanistan and Russia has been finalised and is expected to be signed soon. The announcement came in a statement from the office of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban administration's deputy prime minister for economic affairs, after he chaired a coordination meeting in Kabul on Tuesday.
According to the statement, the document was drawn up with the Russian side on the sidelines of the recent Kazan Forum in Russia's Tatarstan region. The finance ministry presented a report on the latest session of the Afghanistan-Russia Joint Economic Commission, and a plan to advance the commission's work has been sent to the office of the Taliban leader for final approval.
The meeting discussed how to implement the commission's decisions and identified investment opportunities and priorities in infrastructure, trade, electricity, transport, mining, higher education, agriculture, irrigation, livestock, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, business visas, telecommunications and information technology.
Russia last year became the first country to formally recognise the Taliban government, and the two sides have been discussing closer cooperation in trade and energy in recent months. Details of the agreement and a signing date have not yet been announced.